Grape stomp oozes fun: Winery visitors mix it up in giant wooden vats

SAN PASQUAL VALLEY -- Grape juice swirling around their ankles
and oozing between their toes, Phoenix resident Joyce Featherstone
and her daughter, Lisa Taraborelli, said it's no coincidence that
women are quicker than men to jump into the giant wooden vats every
year at Orfila Vineyards & Winery's Grape Stomp.

"Women are a little more adventurous -- we go outside the box,"
said Taraborelli, 41.

"Wait until the men drink a little more wine and they'll be in
here, too," said Featherstone, who described herself as
"50-plus."

Wine-maker Leon Santoro said he first came up with the idea for
the grape stomp as a promotional event more than a decade ago,
after constantly having visitors joke with him.

"Many customers asked me what color my feet were," he said.

Every year since, the 71-acre vineyard and winery has hosted the
stomp, and every year, there are more people, he said. This year's
festivities were sold out with nearly 400 people buying tickets for
an afternoon of not just stomping grapes, but for tasting wine, hay
rides, dancing and dinner.

As the afternoon progressed, and visitors got into the
Bacchanalian spirit of the event, more and more people -- including
men -- took their turn in the wooden vats. Some even danced and
sang as they stomped.

San Diego resident Kenyon Martin, 42, said he thinks that women
are more into the stomping because they are living out their "I
love Lucy" fantasy, referring to the 1950s-era TV episode in which
Lucille Ball visits an Italian winery and has her own experience
stomping grapes.

Martin said he was enjoyed the earthy experience, but worried
about the destiny of the grapes and the juice after the event had
ended.

"I sure hope we're not drinking this in a couple of years," he
said.

He needn't have worried.

Santoro said that by law, the stomped grapes and their juice
cannot be used for human consumption; it later becomes
fertilizer.

In fact, he said, not a single grape from the vineyard's
40-or-so acres of vines is used for the stomp. He buys the ones
used for stomping elsewhere, because the grapes he uses for wine
production are far too valuable for such an ignoble end, he
said.

Santoro, who immigrated to the U.S. from Italy in 1968, has been
a vintner for more than 25 years, he said. For 19 years, he made
wine in the Napa Valley, before bringing his skills to the Orfila
Winery in the mid-1990s. He said that its wines have won more than
1,000 awards, and he is particularly proud of the wines he produces
from such grapes as Syrah, Viognier, Merlot and Sangiovese.

With those grapes, "we can make wine as good as Napa or better,"
he said.

But while the wine may taste great, for many of the winery's
visitors, the main draw Saturday was the opportunity to connect
with grapes in more ways than the palate.

San Diego resident Tiffany Ferrari, 39, said that she loves the
sensation of stomping grapes.

"It connects me to the Earth," she said. "It's all about getting
back to basics, you feel more alive."

Not only was Saturday's grape stomp sold out, but today's Taste
of Slow Food event at the winery is also sold out, Santoro
said.